


she sings the revolution

by michaelsc0fields



Series: we could be heroes [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: 'graphic' violence might be pushing it, AU, F/M, Felicity and Tommy are mentioned in passing, Leonard is a hero, Oliver is mentioned in more than passing, Sara is a villain, but you know, punching and kicking and cold gun firing and that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-06-09 02:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6885283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michaelsc0fields/pseuds/michaelsc0fields
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"My sister worked her ass off for this city. She died for this city. And what did it get her? Nothing."</p><p>"So instead of fighting the problem, you decided to join it?"</p><p>"Don't you see? There is no fighting it. You either join up or get swept away by the tide."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. she's a runaway of the establishment

**Author's Note:**

> a/n – this story came from a prompt that i wrote a couple of one shots for in my prompt collection ‘shoot across the sky’. you don’t really need to read those to know what’s going on here (but if you do, they’re [HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6863014/chapters/15664966) and [HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6863014/chapters/15700435)!) all you really need to know is sara and leonard are co-workers by day, enemies by night although they don't know it's each other they're fighting. mick and lisa are part of len's team, with occasional assistance from cisco. 
> 
> i think anything else you might need to know is probably covered, or will soon become clear but let me know if anything is confusing or unclear. there will also be quite a few flashbacks detailing backstories and how characters met and got to where they are today throughout which might clear some things up too.
> 
> as always, thank you for all your wonderful feedback and support! i hope you enjoy.
> 
> this is dedicated to everyone who asked for it: anon on tumblr, amydee, kou-shun-u, icebluerose, nyxisis, bloodybellarke and anyone else who is even vaguely interested in this weird au world i've made.

Central City, May 2013

Sara Lance stormed through the streets of Central City, frantically scrolling through the contacts on her phone. She ducked into a side alley to avoid a brawl coming towards her, heart beating so loud it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. The city was going to shit and it had been a long time coming. 

With a shaking hand, she pressed her phone to her ear, squeezing her eyes shut. “Come on, come on, come on…”

“Hello?”

“Laurel!” Sara gasped in relief. “Where are you? I went home and you weren’t there!”

There was crashing and screams down the line and Sara felt her stomach drop.

“Sara, I’m at the office-“ The line went fuzzy. “-I’m sorry, I don’t think- take care of dad- I lo- and-“

The line went dead.

“Laurel?” Sara whimpered. “Laurel? Are you there? Laurel-“ She held her phone up to her face, the no signal icon flashing in the top corner. “No!”

She pocketed her phone and ran, diving through the streets between the fights and fires and chaos springing up around her. The DA’s office building was coming up in front of her, a massive mob of men in orange jumpsuits parading outside it. Sara realized with a sense of dread that Iron Heights had been breached and it’s inmates were looking for revenge on the people that put them there.

She went to run across the road when a large hand grabbed onto her elbow. She whirled round to come face to face with a massive man, goggles pulled over his eyes and a fancy gun held in his other hand.

“I can’t let you do that, ma’am.” He announced, pulling her behind him so he could raise his gun and let out a stream of flame at a rogue con who had run at them.

Sara flinched back. “No, you don’t understand, my sister is in there-“

The man turned to her, clapping his hand down on her shoulder. “My partners are in there evacuating the building right now. They’ll get your sister.” He promised solemnly and Sara swallowed hard and nodded, staggering back a few steps as he fought off more cons.

After a moment, he put a hand to his ear and turned to Sara. “They’re just in the lobby with the workers from the seventh floor. Where does your sister work?”

“She, uh, the- the tenth. The tenth floor.” 

“Alright, they’ve almost cleared the lobby and then they’re going to head straight up for her, okay? You hearing me, blondie?” The man demanded.

Sara nodded frantically, but before she could say anything a drone flew overhead and crashed straight into the DA office building. Both she and the man turned and stared as the building went up in flames. The building with her sister still inside.

-

Central City, May 2016

“And don’t forget, tonight is the anniversary of the Iron Heights riots which devastated the city three years ago. Among those who lost their lives were District Attorney Laurel Lance, who many commended for her actions on the night, refusing to leave until all her staff were safely out of the building which was later destroyed by a rogue drone, and heir to the Merlyn fortune Thomas Merlyn, who was believed to have been assisting her. The riots are considered the worst outbreak of crime in the history of Central City-“

Leonard switched the car radio off, glancing over at Lisa who was gazing mournfully out of the passenger window. “You okay?”

“Hmm?” Lisa turned back and gave him a small smile. “Yeah. I just can’t believe it’s been three years.”

“We did what we could.” He knew that Lisa had never forgiven herself for not getting everyone out of the DA’s office that night. They had cleared seven floors, leading them down to the lobby, and were well on track to handle the last three floors when the crash had happened. Leonard had barely had time to throw himself over his sister and when the dust cleared, they both knew it was too late. The building was in flames from the fifth floor up.

He pulled up in front of the new DA building, squinting at the summer sun flashed over the shiny glass. Double thick, bullet proof, fire resistant glass.

Lisa leaned across to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for the ride. And…” She gave him a small smile. “Be there for Sara today? It’s going to be tough for her.”

Leonard nodded as she left the car, running a hand down his face before setting off again.

-

There was a cup of coffee waiting for him on his desk, cappuccino poured over ice, and he huffed out a small laugh, taking the two takeaway cups he had bought into Sara’s office.

“I guess we had the same idea.” He raised one of the cups – vanilla soy with an extra espresso shot – towards her in greeting.

Sara looked up at him from her desk and he took a moment to study her. He’d seen her on a bad day (they didn’t speak about the day he first bought her coffee, when she’d come in late and red eyed with a flimsy excuse he knew covered for the fact it had been her late sister’s birthday), but today she looked put together as normal. She lifted the coffee cup she must have got for herself, shaking it so he could hear that only the dregs remained.

“I’m about due a refill,” She teased and gratefully accepted the fresh cup from him. 

He handed it over and paused as he reached her doorway. “If there’s anything I can do today…” He trailed off awkwardly.

Sara smiled warmly and a little sadly at him. “It’s okay, Len. I’m okay.” She reshuffled some papers on her desk to look busy. “I’ve got plans for tonight, but until then it’s business as usual.” She met his eye. “Really. I’ll be fine.”

Leonard nodded briskly. “If you’re sure.”

-

His door opened later that afternoon. "Hey, I'm heading off early." Sara popped her head round the door. 

Leonard had been absorbed in his work and was slightly disorientated at the sound of her voice. "Okay?"

Sara let out a small laugh. "Thought you might want to know. Keep Lisa informed of my progress today." She said wryly.

She looked sadder now than she had earlier, as the day wore on obviously becoming more drained at the prospect of whatever she had planned in the evening to commemorate her sister. Her face was pale, eyes a little on the watery side. Maybe he only noticed these things because he knew her so well, saw her face every weekday and the occasional weekend if she spent it with Lisa. Her words suddenly registered with him and he stood up awkwardly, walking to his door then hovering in front of her, unsure of the proper etiquette for the situation.

"You know I'm not just friends with you because of Lisa, right?" Leonard frowned. "I... care, too."

"I know." Sara smiled softly at him, leaning her head against the door frame. "See you later, Len."

-

“You don’t think anyone would pull anything tonight, do you?” Lisa asked as he entered the lair from where she was leaning over Mick’s shoulder to gaze at the computer screen.

“Be pretty stupid of them.” Mick gruffly agreed.

“I wouldn’t put anything past the cons of this city.” Leonard pointed out, shrugging on his parka and draping his goggles around his neck. “You never know when one of them might decide that history needs to repeat itself.” He came to stand next to Lisa and put a hand on her shoulder. “How was work?”

“Fine.” She shrugged. “How was Sara?”

“Fine.” Leonard admitted. At Lisa’s side eye look, he rolled his eyes. “Really, she was. Said she’s got something planned for tonight and didn’t want to bring it into work.”

“When am I going to meet this Sara?” Mick piped up.

Lisa smirked. “When Lenny gets his ass into gear.” A beeping came from the monitor and they all turned to it. “Speaking of…” Lisa tapped a few keys. “Break in at…” She trailed off into silence.

“The old DA building.” Mick finished for her.

Leonard’s face was set. “Like I said. History repeating itself.”

-

They split up inside the building, comms off to stop any excess noise, but ready to be switched on so whoever found the intruder could alert the others, Lisa starting at the bottom, Mick in the middle and Leonard at the top. The building was still crumbling despite the reinforcements and scaffolding keeping it upright. After the riots, the city council had announced their plans to demolish it; there had been protests and marches to keep it in its current state as a reminder and memorial. Safety and sentimentality had come to a compromise, and the building still stood, closed to the public, scorched and ruined as a constant shrine to that night.

As he prowled the tenth floor, a clatter from behind an office door caught his attention. Slowly slinking towards it, he swung it open, bringing his gun up to point squarely at The White Canary. Her back was turned to him, hunched over something on the desk in front of her.

“Canary.” He drawled.

“Not tonight, Cold.” She muttered with a defeated slump to her shoulders. “Have a little respect.”

Leonard tilted his head. “I’m not the one breaking into a dead woman’s office.” He pointed out.

“Don’t you dare talk about her!” The Canary spun round, knife grazing Leonard’s cheek as it flew past his face and embedded in the wall behind him. He took a few steps back; he’d always known she was dangerous, but she had never directed such fury at him. Sure, they’d fought and she didn’t hold back, even played dirty sometimes (fruit shampoo and vanilla lipstick floated up in his memory and he pushed it back down), but there’d always been something of a… fondness between them.

Leonard charged his gun up, the whirring echoing through the empty office. A second knife flew and knocked the gun out of his hand, sending it clattering to the floor, while a third pinned the sleeve of his parka to the doorframe. The Canary stalked towards him, retrieving the first knife from behind his head and jamming it back into her belt. She drew back her elbow and punched him squarely across the face.

“You. Don’t. Get. To. Talk. About. Her.” She snarled, each word accentuated with a fist to his body.

Leonard gasped in desperate gulps of air, spitting out a mouthful of blood and tasting the metallic tang in his mouth. He tried to pull his arm away from the wall, but the knife stuck fast. He tugged again then gave up, instead sliding his arm out of his parka and using it to block her next punch. He used her surprise to his advantage, shrugging out of his coat completely.

She struggled against him, swinging a leg to sweep him off his feet, but he was too quick using her momentum to push her away. He lunged for his gun, but she was faster, her boot connecting to his elbow and throwing it against the joint, knocking him to his knees where he cradled his arm with a shout. He rolled, grabbing the gun with his other hand, gritting his teeth against the pain in his arm. She dived for him, fists ready but he managed to fumble the trigger and a blast of ice hit in the chest and sent her flying back.

She fell down, head catching the edge of the desk as she fell and Leonard winced. He hadn’t meant to knock her out, just stop her attack. He crept over to where she was face down on the carpet. On the desk above her was a photo frame, a family portrait. An older man in a police uniform next to a woman with curly hair; one girl in a graduation cap and gown, dark brown hair curling over her shoulders as she laughed with the blonde teenager at her side, only their profiles visible as they smiled at each other. That must have been what she had been looking at when he surprised her. Clearly, one of those three women was the woman she had mentioned as she beat on him.

The Canary's mask had fallen away when she hit her head and he gently rolled her over to check any injuries she might have. Leonard brushed the blonde hair away from her face gently, then staggered back, falling from his crouched position so he was sat a foot away from her, staring in frozen shock at the woman before him.

“Lenny? Mick? Cisco just hacked my comm to warn me that there’s a break in at the museum on the other side of town.” Lisa’s voice crackled through his ear, restarting his pulse and he swallowed heavily.

“Go, Lisa. We’ve got this.” He tried to keep the tremor out of his voice.

“You sure?” He heard the rev of Lisa’s motorbike through the connection. “Swear to me that if you find anything you’ll let me know.”

Leonard promised as he stared down at Sara Lance, dressed in white leather, lying unconscious on the floor of her late sister’s office, tears drying on her cheeks.


	2. she is paranoid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the lovely responses this fic has had so far! i'm overwhelmed with the support :)
> 
> so far i think this will end up being around five chapters, potentially with an epilogue too but we'll see... anyway, please enjoy chapter two and all feedback is welcomed!

Central City, May 2014

“Hey, neighbour.” Leonard glanced up from his computer screen to see a blonde leaning against his doorframe. She smiled. “I’m Sara, I’m the new advertising assistant. My office is just over-“ She motioned behind her to the door directly opposite his. “Thought I’d come meet my new co-workers.”

“Hi.” Leonard nodded to her, then returned to his work. He had to get this report sent up to Miss Smoak in the next half an hour and he wasn’t happy with the conclusion. He’d spent the best part of an hour rewording it but still nothing sounded right.

“Okay…” Sara awkwardly hovered in the doorway. “So I guess I’ll see you… around? Sometime?” She frowned. “Do you introduce yourself to all co-workers like this? Or is this some ‘ignore the new girl’ prank? Hello?”

Silence.

Sara cleared her throat. “Seems a little cold.”

Leonard’s head shot up. “What did you call me?” He demanded.

“Woah…” Sara laughed. “I just said you were being a little cold.”

Leonard visibly relaxed and glanced from his computer to Sara with a frown. “I was a bit, wasn’t I?”

Sara tilted her head. “I’d say a lot.” She admitted, smiling when he laughed.

“Sorry. I’m often being told my people skills leave something to be desired.” He admitted, standing up and walking towards her. He offered out his hand. “I’m Leonard. Snart.”

“Hi.” Sara grinned and shook his hand. “Look, I was going to do a coffee run, get in the good books, you know how it is. Can I get you anything?”

“Don’t we have interns for that?” Leonard smirked. “But, yeah, a cappuccino would be amazing. Over ice.” He patted down his suit pocket. “Let me give you some money-“

“No, no, no.” Sara stepped back out of his doorway. “My treat. Please.”

Leonard held up his hands in surrender. “You’ve got enough to pay for the whole floor? Wow. I’m impressed.”

Sara laughed. “Well, let’s just say my last job had a good payout.”

-

Central City, May 2016

“So, is this how it’s going to work?” Sara shook her arm, rattling the handcuff that attached her to a metal pipe running along the wall. If she stood, it was at a comfortable height, but when she was sat down as she had been when she woke up, it pulled her arm awkwardly above her head. “I sit here in your little Ice Cave until… what? You call the cops? Torture me for information? You caught the Canary, now what’s your big plan?”

Silence.

“Cold?” She called out to him. “’Captain’?” She mocked. 

Leonard huffed and stalked over to her. He made it to within a foot of her when he realised he hadn’t actually planned what he was going to say. He stood and glared at her from behind his goggles.

She raised an eyebrow. “Canary got your tongue?”

“Funny.” He deadpanned, walking away to the desk.

He was keeping her in the basement. It was dark, so she wouldn’t be able to figure out where she was, with a desk and backup computer in the case the one upstairs was damaged in any way. Sometimes Leonard came down here when he needed to think over a case that didn’t make sense away from the riotous natures of Lisa and Mick. Now though, it was giving him more of a headache than the one he was normally trying to escape.

“So what is the plan? You can’t expect to keep me in your lair for the rest of our lives.”

“Why do you think I would tell you anything?” Leonard asked, exasperated.

Sara shrugged. “You’re normally so talkative. That’s why it’s easy to distract you.” She batted her eyelashes. “I’m guessing this isn’t what you had in mind when you asked me to join your little team.” She glanced around. “Speaking of, where is the hot head and your darling sister?”

Leonard slammed his hand against the desk and felt a little guilty at the wave of satisfaction that washed through him when she jumped. “Look, birdy, here’s the deal. I don’t talk about your sister,” He growled, referring to her outburst earlier that night. “And you don’t talk about mine.”

Sara was silent. Then-

“How did you know she was my sister?” She said, quietly. 

Leonard gave her a hard look, then left the basement.

-

Mick gave him a sympathetic look as he emerged from the basement, pulling his goggles and running his hands down his face. “Not to quote an enemy, boss, but what is the plan?”

Leonard sighed and slumped into the chair opposite Mick, shrugging his hood down. “I don’t know, Mick.” He rolled his shoulders back and winced as they popped. “For now, all I know, is keep her away from Lisa. She doesn’t need to know about this.”

“She’ll find out eventually.” Mick pointed out. “When Sara doesn’t show up for work and she stops by…” He affected a high pitched voice. “’Lenny, why is my best friend handcuffed in our basement?’”

Leonard glared at him. “You know, Mick, sometimes you are just so helpful.” He drawled.

Mick shrugged and turned back to the computer monitor, where the CCTV of the basement showed Sara leaning against the wall. It still felt alien to see her face where the Canary’s mask should be – Leonard had left it in the office when he’d carried her out – but now when he properly looked he saw the clues that should have given it away sooner. How many times had he seen Sara in the past two years? Practically daily; not once did he notice that the taper of her waist matched the one the Canary encased in white leathers, how her hair bounced over her shoulders the same way whether she was walking into his office with a coffee or stalking at him with fists ready. 

Sara tilted her head back, obviously bored and impatient; even that was an action he’d seen her perform countless times during conference calls, working overtime, even just on a Monday morning. Her head rolled to the side and she seemed to notice the camera trained on her. She straightened up and look straight at it. Her face hardened to a glare. Leonard swallowed heavily.

“Lenny? Mick?” Lisa’s voice filtered through the lair and Leonard’s hand snapped to the keyboard, closing down the CCTV screen.

“In here.” He called, giving Mick a warning glare. His partner gave him a silent promise, a testament to their closeness – despite not agreeing with it, Mick wouldn’t breathe a word to Lisa. “How was the museum?” 

“Small time.” Lisa tugged off her jacket and removed her mask, wiping at her eyes. “I dropped him off at the police station on my way here. Cisco is going to make sure that there’s a full copy of his record available for them.”

Leonard pulled his cold gun out and started to take it apart for cleaning. “You know, I’m not sure I like this Cisco…” He drawled, inspecting a loose wire.

Lisa sent him a reproachful look. “You’re not dad, Lenny.” She pointed out. “Besides, half our tips come from him and he upgraded your guns.”

Leonard huffed.

“On the subject of significant others,” Lisa started, pausing as Leonard pulled a face at the referral to Cisco as his sister’s ‘significant other’. “Do you think Sara will be done with her thing tonight? I was wondering whether to call in on my way home.”

Leonard froze for a second, almost imperceptibly as he tightened his grip on the handle of his gun. “She’s busy.” He said, shortly. “I mean she’s probably busy. Doesn’t want to be disturbed.” He focused on cleaning a speck of dust from the barrel. “That’s what she said.”

“Okay…” Lisa narrowed her eyes at her brother’s back. “I’m going to head off then. I’ve got a case that I should have started on, like, yesterday.” She leaned over and brushed a kiss on Leonard’s cheek and gave Mick a pat on the shoulder. “Bye, boys.”

Mick waited before turning to his partner. “Smooth.”

Leonard glared at him. “Why don’t you go take our guest some water?” He suggested coolly.

“I don’t think it’s me she’s interested in seeing…” Mick trailed off as Leonard’s glare got darker and hastily got to his feet. “On it, boss.”

-

A loud clatter followed by Mick’s shout made Leonard jump about ten minutes later. He paused, hand hovering over the newly reassembled cold gun, ready to run down to the basement. A second crash sounded and a female voice began to yell; Leonard leapt from his chair, gun in hand and headed straight down the stairs.

“Hey!” He yelled, skidding to a halt at the sight in front of him. Sara had yanked the bar off the wall, sending it rolling across the room which explained the initial noise he heard. The handcuffs still swung from one wrist as she launched herself at Mick, her usual finesse gone and taken over by something more animal.

“It was you!” She screamed, landing a solid punch on Mick’s eye before he grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her. She kicked back and caught him in the shins, causing him to let go in surprise and giving her the opportunity to connect her knee with him gut. “It’s your fault, you did this-“

She let out a yelp of surprise as Leonard seized her around the waist from behind, lifting her off her feet. She struggled and kicked, lashing out but unable to hit him. She flung her head back, connecting with his nose and forcing him to drop her, his hood falling away.

“He stopped me from saving my sister!” She shouted, the need for revenge outweighing the desire to escape as she bypassed the stairs to get to Mick instead. Leonard scooped up his gun from where he’d dropped it when he had lunged for her before trying to follow her.

Sara wasted no time in throwing punch after punch at Mick. Some he blocked, but others landed with deadly accuracy.

“Sara!” Leonard shouted, trying to get a hold of her with his free hand. “Sara, stop!”

She did. Froze mid punch, with her fist shaking as she held it in the air.

“How do you know my name?” Sara said, deadly quiet. When he didn’t answer, she whirled around and stormed towards him. “How do you know my name?”

Before he could stop her, her hand came up to his face and snapped the goggles away. They fell from her hand and clattered against the floor as she stared up at Leonard.

“I’m sorry, Sara.” He said softly, genuinely, before blasting her in the stomach with the gun. At such short range, the momentum of the blast knocked her back and Mick took the opportunity to grab her wrists and cuff them together. He pulled her away, making her stumble at the unexpected travel and proceeded to hook the cuffs to a radiator in the corner of the basement, her arms twisted up behind her.

Sara’s eyes never left Leonard’s face.

He turned away but couldn’t get the image of her betrayed expression out of his head.


	3. she is one of a kind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. while i was writing this i realised it wasn't a massively action based fic. so i started thinking of action scenes based in this universe and then i accidentally planned a sequel. sooo is that something people would be interested in? it would involve introducing oliver so yeah let me know how you guys feel about that. it would be a lot more action based and run more like an episode where there's a threat so they have to devise a mission and they're going undercover as well as being vigilantes.
> 
> anywho, back to this story. i've added months to the flashback dates because there were more than i realised. if it gets confusing i'll probably map out a timeline... this chapter also includes one of the original drabbles! enjoy :)

Central City, June 2014

Leonard had come into work with a black eye and Sara had been fretting around him for at least five minutes now. 

“Really, Sara, it’s fine.” He tried to bat her away, as she reached up to tilt his head down so she could examine the bruising around his eye. In all honesty, it was incredibly painful, but he wasn’t planning on letting her know that. He’d been chasing after a jewel thief who had caught him off guard with a right hook; Mick had barrelled into the criminal not long after that and it hadn’t been until after they’d dropped him off at the police station that Leonard had finally acknowledged the ache it had left around his eye.

“It looks awful!” She protested, fingers pressing gently around the sensitive skin.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not a nurse.” He pointed out.

“My ex was always getting himself into scrapes.” She frowned. “How did you get this?”

“Football.” Leonard blurted out then mentally kicked himself. Now he had to go along with it. “Mick and I play for an amateur team.” At Sara’s disbelieving look, he sighed, grabbing her hands from his face and holding them down between them so she couldn’t reach for him again. “I’m fine, Sara, really-“

“Lenny, sorry to drop in, but I thought we could have lunch- oh.” Lisa barrelled into the room, takeout bag in hand then stopped short. At the sight of her brother clasping the hands of a young blonde woman, she smirked, raising her eyebrows at Leonard suggestively. “Sorry to interrupt, you’ve clearly already got a lunch date.”

Leonard dropped Sara’s hands like they had burned him. The mischievous twinkle in Lisa’s eye got brighter.

“We’re not-“

“This isn’t-“

“She was just-“

“I’m Sara.” Sara cutting off the awkward stammering she and Leonard had just spat out. “I work across the corridor.” 

“She’s my co-worker.” Leonard said firmly, shooting Lisa a look while Sara’s focus wasn’t on him. “And this is my sister, Lisa.”

Lisa licked her lips, eyeing Leonard again, before smiling warmly at Sara. “Hi.” She shifted the takeout in her arms so she could hold out a hand which Sara shook.

“Hey.” She smiled back. “You wanna help me convince your brother to go get his eye looked at?” She jerked her head towards Leonard, who let out an exasperated huff.

“You’re fighting a losing battle there.” Lisa told her with a laugh. “He’ll never admit he’s hurting. Too much pride.” She rolled her eyes. “Hey, you want to join us for lunch? I always over order.”

“Oh, no, thank you but I’ve got so much work to do. Your brother is constantly distracting me from it.” She shook her head in a scolding manner at Leonard who threw his hands up in the air.

“You’re in my office!” He exclaimed. “I’m going to regret you two meeting.”

-

“See you later, Lenny.” Sara grinned as she passed his office that afternoon.

Leonard sighed and tipped his head back. “I regret you two meeting already.”

Sara laughed. “What? I like her.” She bit her lip. “She’s cute.” 

Leonard’s head snapped back up. “Please don’t hit on my sister.” He pleaded.

Sara smirked. “Don’t worry. Not as cute as you.” She winked. “Lenny.” 

-

Central City, December 2014

“I’m just saying, it might be nice for you to buy Sara a coffee for once instead of the other way round.”

“Yes, Lisa, you’ve been saying it all day.” Leonard growled. “Is now really the time?”

They’d been tipped off that The Canary was planning to rob a high profile jewellery store - the one that Oliver Queen had bought Felicity Smoak’s engagement ring from, Lisa had squealed excitedly as though that had meant anything to him and Mick - and were currently casing the streets outside it in full gear. Leonard was determined to not let her get away again.

The sound of smashing glass alerted their attention and Lisa took off without a second thought, leaving her brother fuming as he ran after her, losing sight of her as she dived into the shop.

He was only a few moments late to stop her crumpling to the floor, pushing past the figure in white to drop beside his sister.

“Didn’t realise you had a little girlfriend.” The Canary jeered, standing across from Leonard where he was cradling Lisa in his arms, searching desperately for the pulse that thankfully beat strong under his fingers.

He glared at her. “She’s my sister.”

There was a shift between them as The Canary’s lips parted slightly, the surprised intake of air audible across the jewellery store. She lowered her staff, arms hanging limply at her side.

“I… I didn’t know.” She gasped out. “I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have- I’m sorry.” She choked out, before fleeing out of the store, her heist seemingly forgotten.

Lisa stirred in his arms and he let out a deep sigh of relief. “You’re okay, I’ve got you.” He raised his hand to the comm in his ear. “Mick, bring the car around, please.”

Lisa struggled upright, batting his concerned hands away. “I’m fine, I’m fine, she just took me by surprise.” She rubbed a sore spot on her head, wincing slightly before taking in the room, shattered glass scattered across the floor. “She got away.” She realised dejectedly.

“But she didn’t take anything.” Leonard pointed out.

Lisa frowned at him as he helped her to her feet. “Why?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea.”

-

Central City, May 2016

The lair was silent. Mick had no little comments to offer. He sat by the computer, keeping half an eye on the police scanner and the other on his partner.  
Lisa had invested in some comfier furniture ‘since we’re going to be stuck here so often’, a couple of armchairs scattered in one corner where they would kick back after a long night and had all slept in at least one. Leonard was sitting in one now, head in his hands. He hadn’t spoken a word since they had come up from the basement, just stared at the floor in front of him. Mick knew that look; his mind was going two hundred miles an hour trying to work through the situation and devise a plan. That’s what Leonard did when he didn’t know what to do – made a plan. From the amount of time it was taking, Mick could assume it wasn’t coming along very well.

The door to the lair slammed shut.

“Lenny? I’m worried about Sara. I went to her apartment but she’s not the- What’s wrong?” Lisa stopped suddenly as the uncomfortable atmosphere descended around her. She looked from Mick to Len and back again. “Guys? Mick?”

“Go to the basement, Lisa.” He grunted.

Leonard looked up, appalled. “Mick-“

“She’s not a kid, Snart. She deserves to know.” 

“Know what? What’s going on?” Lisa ran across to the stairs, shooting her brother another odd look, although he didn’t get up to stop her, before taking them two at a time.

-

“What the hell?” Lisa came storming down the stairs, her face a look of pure shock as she saw Sara cuffed to the radiator.

“Hello, Lisa.” Sara sighed. Of course; if Leonard was Captain Cold then that made Lisa his plucky sidekick sister, The Golden Glider.

“What are you doing down here?” Lisa crossed the room to the desk, rooting through the drawers for the key to the cuffs. “When I told Lenny to ask you out, this is not what I meant.”

Sara snorted. “Haven’t you heard?” She drawled. “I’m the White Canary.”

Lisa stared at her. “What?” She took in the white outfit, the array of weapons Mick had relieved Sara of while she was unconscious (about ten knives, a retractable bo staff and the small device that Cisco had giddily dubbed the ‘Canary Cry’ when Lisa had tried to explain the shrieking noise it had emitted during a mission) and took a few steps back. 

“You’re…” Her brain would not register the new information. It just didn’t compute that Sara Lance, her friend and Leonard’s workplace crush, was one and the same with the White Canary. “I don’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it.” Sara shrugged, then shifted uncomfortably against her bonds. Mick, clearly not impressed with her display earlier, had recuffed her in what must be the most uncomfortable position possible, her arms twisted up behind her. She had managed to struggle to a standing position, but it did drag her hands down lower than was actually comfortable.

“In that case…” Lisa marched over and punched her straight across the jaw. 

“Jesus, Lisa!” Sara shouted, wincing and stretching her jaw as the ache spread up her cheek. “I… I deserved that.”

“Yeah. You did.” Lisa spat.

Sara slid down to the floor, rolling her shoulders as she tried to find a comfortable way of sitting.

“He likes you.” She looked up at Lisa who was looking down at her darkly. “You know he likes you and you still kept up this charade.” 

Sara tipped her head back, exasperated. The action relieved some of the pain in her shoulders from having her arms pulled so tightly behind her. “I didn’t know it was him, Lisa.” 

“If you had would that have stopped you?” The dark haired woman asked accusingly. 

Silence. 

“Yes.” Sara answered, quietly, almost surprised at her own conclusion. She stared at the ceiling; it was completely true. She had always had a fondness for Captain Cold, but it had never overtaken her need to take, to steal from the city as it had from her. But Leonard… If she’d known it was him under that ridiculous hood this whole time, she probably would have… She didn’t know. She couldn’t not steal; it was in her blood now, an art trained to perfection that she would never be able to let go of. Maybe she would have skipped town, gone to Star City, made a different enemy that she wouldn’t regret beating on when she learned his real identity. She didn’t regret the trouble she had caused Captain Cold; but she hated the pain she must have put Leonard and Lisa through.

Lisa looked away, not wanting Sara to see the sympathy in her eyes. Not wanting to feel sympathy at all for this woman who had lied to them all, hurt them and wounded their prides on multiple occasions. “You know this is killing him. Having to keep you locked down here.”

“Yeah, he seemed really cut up when he shot me in the stomach.” Sara rolled her head and gave Lisa a sidelong glance.

“You know he’ll never admit he’s hurting. Too much pride.” Lisa reminded her. Sara snorted softly.

They sat in a silence that was almost friendly for a few moments. Lisa seemed to be taking this news a lot better than her brother, and Sara was glad. She could only handle one distraught Snart at a time. Besides, she was still angry at Leonard; she might have kept her identity a secret, but so did he, and their fights had never been one sided. If he wanted to be pissed at her, she was more than happy to accept her own anger and be pissed right back.

“You beat my brother’s face to a pulp.” Lisa said after a moment. “Those bruises aren’t going to go down for a while.”

“Luckily, he won’t have to come up with his stupid football excuse for me tomorrow then.” Sara pointed out with an ironic smirk.

Lisa shook her head and bit out a reluctant laugh. “I can’t believe all those times you tried to take care of him, it was usually your fault in the first place.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Every time he fought the Canary... and it was you.”

The mood still seemed light and Sara didn’t want it sinking back down again so instead of really acknowledging the gravitas of that statement, she joke about it. “That’s his idea of flirting. Buy a girl a coffee, rough her up a bit.”

Lisa shot her a look that Sara recognised, the one she gave her when she’d said something that she wanted to laugh at but was trying hard not to. “That’s not funny.”

Sara smirked. “It is a bit.” 

Lisa let out a giggle which Sara echoed. They looked at each other for a moment, then dissolved into helpless laughter, tears actually running down Lisa’s face at the absurdity of it all. 

“You knocked me out once too, remember.” She pointed out, wiping at her face.

“You know I bat for both teams, Lisa.” Sara laughed, then turned serious. “You know, I really am sorry for that. I never wanted to get family involved in this.”

“Lenny asked you to join the team once, didn’t he?” Lisa remembered. “We could have been your family, Sara.”

Sara frowned and looked down. “I think it was already too late for that.”

The awkwardness enveloped them again.

“You know we have to hand you over to the police, right?” Lisa asked quietly. “I love you, but… your rap sheet is as long as my arm.”

“I know.” Sara nodded softly. “But you have to know, Lisa. I won’t go down without a fight.”


	4. she won't co-operate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some backstory, some cisco and some eye sex.
> 
> all feedback is welcomed as always. your reviews and comments always make my day :)

Central City, July 2014

They’d heard there was a new player in the game for a few weeks now. A couple of police reports of minor break ins and the odd scuffle in the rougher area of town, all involving a woman dressed in white. All small news that hadn’t been available to them until the events had already happened; so when Cisco called in that there had been a break in at the museum which was currently holding an exhibit on some rare Egyptian jewels and that a blonde woman had been sighted on the scene, Leonard was actually a little excited. Lisa told him that that was very, very sad.

He took the lead on this mission; Mick was by the vehicle ready to get them away safely in case of an emergency, Lisa prowling the ground floor in case there was an escape attempt and Leonard hunting through the museum for this latest adversary.

He found her in the Egyptian section as presumed. She was surprisingly small, cased in fitted white leather with blonde hair falling down her back as she examined the jewel she had just plucked from the exhibit, facing away from him. He raised the cold gun and cleared his throat. First her head turned, then her whole body, looking at him with a slight frown.

“Are you actually wearing that coat in this heat?” She asked, seeming genuinely quite concerned.

Leonard was thrown. “Yes?” This was not what he had been expecting. A quip maybe (villains loved their quips), but not a call out for his wellbeing in his vigilante disguise.

“But it’s July.” She pointed out.

“But I’m Captain Cold.” Leonard responded like she was a kindergarten student and he was her teacher.

The blonde choked on a laugh. The hand that wasn’t clutching her prize went to cover her mouth as her eyes, almost hidden behind a white mask, twinkled with mirth. “Sorry. That was rude.”

Leonard was completely at a loss. “Look, here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to put that back, then we’re going to head to where my partner is waiting with a car to take you to the police station. If you come without a struggle, we’ll make sure your sentence reflects that you gave yourself up.” He re-aimed the cold gun at her. “What do you say?”

The woman tilted her head to the side. “Just out of curiosity, does that ever work?”

“Wha- yes!” Leonard huffed. “Are you going to come quietly or not?”

Her eyes flashed. “Why, we barely know each other.” She smirked and slipped a hand into her pocket, drawing out a small device. “But I’m going to go with not.” She pressed a button and a shrieking filled the air, stabbing at Leonard’s brain like a hundred knives. He let out a shout, dropping the gun to hold his hands over his ears as she sank to his knees in agony, the noise running through him like fire.

Silence was a sweet relief, and he gasped, scrambling for the gun and getting to his feet. A quick survey of his surroundings confirmed what he already knew; she was gone.

-

Central City, May 2016

“You need to talk to her.” Lisa put a cup of coffee down in front of Leonard. “You’ll regret it if you don’t and I’m pretty sure this isn’t a conversation you can have over the phone when she’s in prison.” When Leonard didn’t respond, she sighed. “She’s still Sara. Sure, she’s the Canary, but she’s also our friend.”

Leonard looked up at her. 

“You know I’m right, Lenny.”

He sighed and pulled himself up, trudging over to the basement door. Sara looked up when he headed down the stairs and he could practically see the defence that had been lowered around Lisa go back up as her expression hardened. He weirdly felt a little hurt at that. He grabbed the chair from the desk and dragged it over to her, swinging it round so he could straddle it and fold his arms over the back of it, peering down at where Sara was sat on the floor. 

Neither of them said anything, just glared at each other in silence.

“So.” Sara piped up. “You’re… you. And I’m me.” She swallowed a little nervously. “What are we going to do about it?”

Leonard sighed and ran a hand down his face, drained from the day’s events. “We have to hand you over to the authorities, Sara.” He said, bitterly.

Sara nodded, letting out a huff of ironic laughter. Like sister, like brother. “Of course you do.” She spat.

“Hey.” Leonard frowned at her, defensive. “We do a lot of good work for this city. I can’t put that on pause for you just because we’re…” He trailed off, catching her eye for a moment before looking down.

“What?” Sara asked, coldly. “What are we, Leonard?”

“Friends.” He mustered the courage to meet her gaze again, staring her down determinedly. 

She scoffed. “Friends don’t send friends to prison.”

Leonard bristled. “Friends don’t lie about secret double lives!” He pointed out, voice raising slightly.

Sara raised an eyebrow coolly. “Then by your own definition, we’re not friends.”

Leonard walked away from her with an exasperated noise of anger. “Damnit, Sara!” He growled. “This city is your home! How can you steal and take from it? You should be giving to it, working for it-“

"My sister worked her ass off for this city. She died for this city. And what did it get her? Nothing." Sara snapped.

Leonard stared at her. "So instead of fighting the problem, you decided to join it?"

"Don't you see? There is no fighting it. You either join up or get swept away by the tide." Sara shook her head. “How many criminals have you put away? And how many have escaped? Broken out of Iron Heights? How many are still at large now?”

“One less with you in here.” He pointed out, coldly.

Sara let out a heavy breath and looked away from him. “Lisa says you’re hurt.” She muttered, half to him and half to herself. “Yeah, you seem real damn cut up.”

Leonard looked like he wanted to throw something, preferably at her head. He dragged his hand down his face letting out an exasperated huff of air. He gripped the back of the chair with both hands until his knuckles turned white, frustration rolling off of him in waves. “How did you even get caught up in all of this?” He asked. “Your dad was a cop and your sister was a lawyer. That doesn’t exactly scream thief material for you.”

She didn’t meet his gaze, instead choosing to continue to look away. “I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.”

Leonard shrugged. “My dad was a bad guy. I decided I didn’t want to be.” He said shortly. “My sister is dating a scientist who works on non-deadly weaponry. I liked a gun he designed, decided I could use it for the greater good when the crime rate increased. Lisa and Mick wanted in.” He shrugged. “There you have it. Your turn.”

“After…” She faltered. “After Laurel died, my dad wasn’t well. He took it really hard and, uh, he drank. He’d had a problem in the past.” Her face had gone pale, obviously reliving the memory. “Sudden onset liver failure. I was only a bartender at the time. Dad didn’t have any money coming in because he’d been suspended from the force after he’d started drinking. The hospital bills were insane.” 

“Sara…”

“So we went to Star City. It was cheaper there but… It started with shop lifting. Then the bills got bigger, so I went for bigger.” She took a deep breath. “Dad died four months after Laurel.” She finally looked up at him with watery eyes and rueful smile. “Then it was a coping mechanism. I was twenty-six and all my family was just… gone.”

Leonard thought of Lisa and frowned. They didn't have their dad, but the thought of his sister having to go through life without him and Mick was painful. He wanted to hold Sara’s gaze but her intensity was too much. 

“After a while, I went to do a hit on a museum in Star City. They had an exhibit on… I forget. I wasn’t as thorough with my research back then.” She exhaled a self-deprecating laugh. “It was big and it was shiny and I wanted it. But so did someone else.” She waited until Leonard looked down at her, wanting to see his reaction. “The Green Arrow.”

Leonard’s jaw dropped despite himself. “You met the Green Arrow?”

“I dated the Green Arrow.” Sara corrected. At Leonard’s horrified stare, she rolled her eyes. “I told you my ex was always getting scrapes.”

“You failed to mention that your ex was at the top of Starling City Police’s Most Wanted list.” He snarled.

“I also failed to mention around that time that I was a thief who dressed in white and beat you up on almost weekly occasions.” Sara deadpanned. “You want me to finish the story?” Leonard waved his hand at her. “Thanks. So the Green Arrow caught me on this job; and became kind of a mentor.” Leonard raised an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that. He taught me everything I know; I became a better thief, learnt to fight, figured out how to develop plans. And then, a year after Laurel’s death, I came back to Central City and... took my revenge.”

“And you’ve been taking it ever since.” Leonard sighed. He rubbed at his eyes. “Look, Sara… I’m not saying that I don’t understand. Because I do. And I’m sorry about your sister and your dad, really I am.” Sara glanced down to hide the unexpected wave of emotion that his apology brought forward. “But I can’t agree with what you’ve done. How you’ve coped.” He swung off the chair and lowered himself to her level, not wanting to tower over here when she’d opened up to him. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Sara sniffed her understanding.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly. “First thing in the morning we’re taking you to the police station.”

-

“Hey guys, I’ve got… Who died?” Cisco Ramon, tech extraordinaire bustled into the lair, arms full of new equipment then stopped dead when the vibe of the room hit him. Leonard had gone back to his chair, sprawled with his arms folded and his head tipped back, counting the ceiling tiles over and over to try mute his overthinking brain. Lisa was sat opposite, watching him with a worried expression while Mick had the police scanner on low so the room was practically silent.

“No one, Cisco, we’ve just got a… guest in the basement.” Lisa kissed his cheek in greeting as she went to trade places with Mick and keep an eye on the police scanner.

“The basement where I’m supposed to be setting up all this?” He hefted the box in his arms.

“Was that tonight?” Lisa grimaced. “There’s no way we can-“

“It’s okay.” Leonard cut in, pulling himself upright. “I’ll go down with him.” He looked across as his sister’s partner. “Hello, Cisco.” He said, coldly.  
Cisco looked like he’d rather take his chances with whatever ‘guest’ they had downstairs than have to make the journey with Leonard but he offered a shaky smile. “Hello sir- boss- I mean… Captain?” His eye twitched.

Leonard nodded, businesslike. “Just give me a second to get something and we’ll go right down.”

-

“Sara, this is Cisco.” Leonard drawled as they made it to the bottom of the stairs. “Cisco, this is Sara.”

To his credit, if Cisco recognised her name from Lisa’s stories, he didn’t breathe a word. “I’ll just… on the desk then?” Leonard nodded and Cisco hurried over, unpacking new guns and tech onto the surface.

Sara gave Leonard a reproachful look. “You here to babysit me while your techie gets to work?”

“Something like that.” Leonard pulled a pack of cards out from his back pocket and waved them at her. 

She snorted. “You know I can’t play with my arms like this?” She rattled the cuff, then let out a small noise of discomfort when it jerked her shoulder the wrong way.

Leonard gave her a look that screamed ‘nice try’. “I’m not releasing you, Sara.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not playing if you’re in charge of my cards too. You’ll just cheat.”

If they hadn’t been in the cold basement of his lair, they could be having this standoff over his desk. The playful narrowing of her eyes as she coaxed him into doing what she wanted, his better judgement screaming at him as he considered her.

Leonard sighed. “Stand up then.”

Sara struggled to her feet, wincing a little as she jolted her shoulder into an odd angle during the attempt. She moved as far away from the radiator as she could manage while still being attached to it, giving Leonard the space to be able to move behind her and release the cuffs. She let out a small moan of satisfaction as her arms relaxed, shoulder popping as it rolled back into it usual position. Leonard paused for a second, thrown a little by the noise, then took a tight grip of her right wrist, bringing it back around to her front before reaching around to do the same to her left. The movement caused his to brush up against her and he made the mistake of glancing down; she was looking straight back up at him through her eyelashes, gaze hot. Her hands moved within his grasp, turning so her palms were up and her fingers could curl around his wrists. His eyes flicked down to where she was holding him, then back up to her face and he swallowed heavily. Sara rose up onto her toes, nose brushing his-

“Aw man!” Cisco’s voice snapped them out of their moment as they both turned to look at him following his outburst. He was holding the broken goggles Sara had ripped off  
Leonard earlier, the strap snapped and one of the lenses cracked from when she’d dropped them to the floor. “My babies!”

“Sorry!” Sara called out apologetically. She looked back at Leonard, whose face was still only a few inches from hers and dropped her voice down. “Sorry, Leonard.”

“Wha-?” Sara twisted her wrist violently out of his grasp, swinging it so that the cuffs that hung loose from one arm caught him across the temple and made him stagger back. In a second, she was across the room, one arm hooked around Cisco’s neck and the other grabbing one of the new guns he had left on the desk and pressing it to his temple.

“I wonder what this does.” She sing-songed, flicking the safety off and hearing the technology whir.

“Sara- don’t.” Leonard raised his hands slowly towards her, but she pulled back a few paces, taking Cisco with her, so she was at the bottom of the stairs.

“I told Lisa I wouldn’t go down without a fight.” Sara told him, a warning note in her voice. “Come on, Cisco. Let’s go for a walk.”

She dragged him up the stairs, Leonard following warily. His mind was trying to plan through all outcomes; her surrendering wasn’t going to happen, but he also didn’t believe she’d actually hurt Cisco if it came to it. The Canary vs Sara. He had no idea which side would win out.

When they got to the top of the stairs Lisa and Mick both launched to their feet, then backed up and raised their hands when they saw the situation. Lisa’s face was deadly pale, trying to keep her expression neutral and failing as hints of betrayal crept through.

“You know, Cisco,” Sara began conversationally as she turned and used him as a shield while she back up to the exit. “It’s really nice to meet you. Lisa has told me so much about you.”

“Yeah, same, actually.” Cisco pulled her arm down slightly so he could talk without her forearm pressing against his throat. “Except she forgot to mention the small detail of you being absolutely fucking crazy.”

Sara surprised everyone, including herself, by laughing at that. “Must not have come up in conversation much.” Her back hit the door and she smirked. “Sorry, guys.” Sara shoved  
Cisco towards them, keeping the gun trained at the back of his head until she was almost out of the door. “Gotta fly.”

And then she was gone.

Leonard took a brief moment to check Cisco was uninjured before passing him onto Lisa and following right behind.


	5. she's a symbol of resistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an epilogue should be following shortly... and then the sequel!

Central City, March 2016

“Canary.”

“Cold.”

Captain Cold sighed and lowered his gun. “You know I can’t let you do this.”

“I know you can’t do a damn thing to stop me.” The White Canary countered, a smirk dancing prettily across her lips, the only feature completely visible between the darkness of the corridor and the mask drawn across her face. 

“Come on, Cold,” The Canary taunted. “How many times have we got to do this? We both know how it’s going to play out.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this, you know.” Leonard took a step towards her, noticing how she tensed slightly. “You don’t have to do this, stealing to survive. We could help you… You could help us.”

The Canary scoffed. “Join your little gang and spend my days plotting adventures in the Ice Cave?”

Beneath his mask and the furred hood of the parka, Cold looked offended. “We don’t call it that.”

“Whatever.” The Canary snorted, before her expression softened slightly. She copied him, taking a step forward so they were only inches apart. Her hand gently came up to settle on his chest, fingers stretching over his heart that was beating faster than normal under his layers of clothing. She seemed transfixed at the sight of her hand against his body, head tilting to the side before raising to look at him.

Masked eyes met and The Canary offered him a helpless shrug.

“That’s just the way it is.” Her voice came out almost as a whisper, then she was surging onto her toes to brush her lips chastely against his.

He barely had a chance to respond before he felt a sharp pain in his temple and everything went black.

“Sorry, Cold.” The Canary stepped over the prone body of her enemy, slipping the knife she’d hit him with the handle of back into its sheath. “Just the way it is.” She added, ruefully, wiping her smudged lipstick before running through the corridor to where her prize awaited.

-

Central City, May 2016

The front wheel of Lisa’s motorbike was suddenly ice. Sara swore as she lost control, diving out of the seat as it swerved off the road and into a lamppost. She hit the ground in a roll, her shoulder absorbing most of the impact. She tucked her legs in and gracefully got to her feet, turning at the sound of the whir of technology as the glowing blue of the cold gun settled firmly on her.

“Y’know, Lisa is not going to be happy about you trashing her bike.” She quipped lamely.

Leonard eyed her. “I think she’s going to be more pissed that you stole it in the first place.”

“Yeah, well,” Sara spotted Len’s own motorbike parked up behind him and sighed. “Yours was too tall.”

Leonard lowered the gun slightly; trying to make her feel less threatened so she would listen, but still having it handy enough that he could shoot if she tried to escape. He vaguely wondered at what point his life turned into trying to scare and reassure Sara Lance at the same time.

“Sara, please. Just let us take you in. We’ll get you the best possible sentence; we won’t mention your intent to harm a civilian. We’ll even clear you of a couple of the big heists to knock a couple of years off.” Leonard offered. “Then… maybe, after, you could… help us. Right your wrongs. Be a part of-“

“Seriously? Can someone take this record off because it’s beyond broken... What is it with you and Lisa thinking I could join your team?” Sara growled frustrated, looking about ready to rip her hair out. “I can’t not be The Canary, not even for you guys. This is what I was trained to do. I have to take because it’s the only thing that fills the emptiness. Besides, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I just held your Geek Squad at gunpoint. I think my membership to the good guys’ side has been revoked.” Sara huffed angrily, then decided to switch tactics. “Please, just let me go. I’ll do anything.”

Leonard considered this. “Will you tell me who the Green Arrow is?”

Sara rolled her eyes. “If you’re not going to take this seriously, I will just beat you up and run.” 

“Then I’ll shoot.” Leonard shrugged and raised the gun back at her. 

“No you won’t.” Sara said quietly, staring up at him. He didn’t have his goggles and she didn’t have her mask, and suddenly the realness of the entire situation finally set in. This was a Captain Cold and Canary situation, but they were in it as Sara and Leonard.

“We never really knew each other at all, did we?” 

Sara felt the walls she kept up to keep herself separate from her Canary identity begin to crumble and she sighed. “Your name is Leonard Snart. You work at Smoak Industries. You take your coffee over ice, no sugar. Your favourite place to eat is the Motorcar Diner, opposite the precinct. Your sister Lisa is the most important person in your life, followed by Mick. You pretend you don’t like Lisa’s boyfriend just to scare him, but really you’re glad she found someone so supportive and positive about her choices because you’ve always been scared she might find a douchebag like your dad. You’re Felicity Smoak’s favourite employee and you’re probably going to be promoted soon. And you’re also Captain Cold. You love this city. You risk your life every night to keep it safe. You wear that stupid parka even in the height of Summer. And we’re friends.” It was a last ditch attempt; remind him that it was her under the white leather and not just another faceless crook.

“I could rattle off a list like that about you, but I wouldn’t know if any of it was actually true.” He gazed down at her. “All I know is that right now, we’re enemies.”

“I don’t think it’s that black and white.” She glanced down then back up to meet his eyes. “Please, Leonard.” She pleaded, sounding desperate. “I promise you - I know people in Star City. I’ll disappear. You’ll never see me again. I can’t fight you anymore.” She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

Leonard struggled internally. The vigilante in him wanted her locked up, to pay for her crimes, but the man didn’t want the burden of sending someone he considered a friend to jail. If he put it in her hands, it wouldn’t have to be his choice. If she went in for a fight, then the criminal in her would have won over and he could justify taking her in; if she acted like Sara, and not the Canary, he wouldn’t feel guilty for letting her go.

“I suppose… You could always distract me?” Leonard suggested. “Just like old times. You manage to do it and slip away, I’ll let you go. I catch you out, and you’re going to be handed over to the police.”

“Is that really a good idea, Cold?” Sara smirked, even as her eyes watered. “You know your track record is pretty shocking. How many times have you actually managed to stop me?

“One.”

“Tonight doesn’t count.” She rolled her eyes at him. 

“It kind of does.” Leonard scowled teasingly at her. “Don’t take this away from me.”

Sara stared at him. “I can’t believe you’re actually joking about this.” She said, disbelief colouring her tone.

Leonard blinked at her complete 180. “What?”

“You literally have the power to ruin my life and you’re stood here joking about it.” Sara folded her arms protectively across her chest. “I can’t believe you’re treating this so lightly. Do you know what they do to girls like me in prison?”

Leonard stared. “Sara, I didn’t-“

“No!” She was shouting now and he held his hands out in surrender. She shied away from the cold gun and he sighed and shoved it back into its holster. “You didn’t, did you? You didn’t think!”

“Look, maybe this wasn’t the best way to go about this-“ He tried to console, walking closer slowly.

“You think?” Sara snapped.

“I’m trying to help!” Leonard shouted back. “Believe it or not, I don’t want to see you go to prison! The Canary, yes, but you’re so much more than that, Sara! I can’t let you, you as in my annoying colleague and friend, live like that! This isn’t easy for me, you know?”

“Well maybe you should stop trying to help altogether.” Her voice raised to match his, taking a step forward so they were squaring off, inches apart.

“For god’s sake, Sara, I’m trying to offer you a way out he-“ He was cut off by Sara’s mouth on his. 

He let out an initial noise of surprise which was captured by her lips as she deepened the kiss. Her hands were gripping his parka, pulling him down to her (had the height difference always been that much?) so he towered over her, breaking apart only to move in again. He was more prepared this time, one hand cupping her jaw so he could angle her face up and not have to stoop to reach her; the other gripped her hip to keep her against him. Her lips parted beneath his as she sighed into his mouth, making him shudder. She slowed the kiss down, relishing the feel of his mouth against hers, her teeth scraping his bottom lip and making the hand on her hip flex in surprise before holding onto her tighter.

She pulled back ever so slightly, her eyelashes brushing his cheeks as she opened her eyes, the clear blue looking up almost shyly to meet his icy greys. 

“Consider yourself distracted.” She whispered against his lips, then the ends of her hair smacked across his face as she turned and ran.

Leonard stared after, willing himself to follow but not able to manage it. She made it to the end of the block, before turning back still moving as she watched him watching her. There was a charged moment as they stared at each other across the distance, both breathing a little heavily. Leonard swore he could just about make out pink splotches on her cheeks.

Sara grinned, then jumped to grab onto the bottom rung of a fire escape, pulling herself up with ease. In a few seconds she was scaling the building, flipping onto the roof and out of his sight. 

A few minutes later, a car pulled up next to him and Lisa and Mick got out. “What took you so long?” He asked. He had feeling they hadn’t been rushing too fast to catch up with him and Sara.

“Making sure Cisco was okay.” Lisa said shortly, slamming the car door shut with a viciousness that surprised him. Oh yeah, he had forgotten about Cisco until that moment; that was definitely going to come around and bite him in the ass.

“Where is she?” Mick demanded, as Lisa grabbed Leonard, searching him for any injuries.

“She… got away.” Leonard blinked, still slightly in shock at the kiss, then gently batted Lisa away with a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, she just distracted me.”

Lisa’s eyes filled with understanding, while Mick frowned and looked between the two siblings. “Just like old times then?” He complained, gruffly.

Leonard threw his arm around Lisa’s shoulder and clapped Mick on the back as they headed back to their respective vehicles. “Not quite.” He admitted, but didn’t elaborate any further despite the odd looks they both gave him at the sight of a small smile on his face.

Lisa stopped him before he got to his bike. “She tried to hurt Cisco.” She said deliberately, her expression smooth even as her eyes told him what she really meant. “I’m not going to forget that.” Silently asking him not to make her choose between her boyfriend and her brother if it came down to it.

Leonard sobered up. He nodded and kissed Lisa on the forehead. “It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about that.”

You’ll never see me again. Sara had promised. But that was exactly what he was afraid of. After two years, he couldn’t imagine his life without Sara Lance. Or, he admitted to himself, his vigilante adventures without the Canary as his adversary. He sighed then pushed it out of his mind; both she and Central City were safer if she wasn’t in it, and wasn’t safety for the people he cared about the whole reason he became a vigilante?

He spared one last look in the direction she’d gone, hoping but knowing he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of white across the rooftops. Then he kicked off the curb and wheeled round to where Mick and Lisa had the car engine running. “Let’s go.”

“Lenny… Is that my bike wrapped around that lamppost?”

Leonard winced. “About that…”


	6. and she's holding on my heart like a hand grenade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it! thank you to everyone who has bookmarked, commented and left kudos on this fic, it has meant the world to me! what started as a one am drabble plot has become this whole universe and i'm so amazed and glad that you have all enjoyed reading it as much as i have writing it ::)
> 
> i have started on the sequel so that will be posted when i'm a little further into it (i like to be a couple of chapters ahead of what i'm posting!)
> 
> again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Central City, November 2016

You’ll never see me again.

True to her word, the day after the whole mess went down Sara Lance’s office was empty. She had to leave suddenly due to urgent matters back in Star City, an email chain from the board had alerted them. Lisa had visited Leonard that day and the two of them had stood in the doorway of Sara’s office, just staring into the empty room.

“You know what’s really annoying about this whole thing?” Lisa said after a moment. Len turned to her, eyebrows raised. “I leant her my jacket last week. Guess that’s not coming back.” He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the small smile that lingered at his lips.

“That’s that, then.” Leonard finally said and turned back to his own office, door shutting firmly behind him.

Months passed. The three of them encountered a new threat in the form of The Flash, a quick thief who kept breaking into labs and stealing scientific equipment. He was proving as difficult to get a hold on as Sara had been, but Leonard approached their fights with him with an unerring single-mindedness; they both knew he was taking his frustration over the entire Canary debacle out and attempting to use this new nemesis as a redemption for letting Sara go.

When they weren’t on the streets, Lisa had taken to training Cisco. It had actually been his idea; he felt responsible for Sara’s escape, regardless of how many times all of them, including Mick, tried to reassure him that she would have gotten away somehow. Nevertheless, he was determined to no longer be the weak link in their chain and Lisa stopped complaining the day he managed to straddle her to the ground. Ironically, that was the day Leonard started complaining. The kid became more involved in their lives, both vigilante and otherwise; one morning Felicity called him into her office to introduce him to their new head of tech – Cisco Ramon.

Every now and then, Len would change the police scanner frequency to tune into the Star City’s station, not sure whether he wanted to hear about the Canary or was hoping she’d never come up. She was never mentioned, however, although he did catch the occasional report on the Green Arrow, which always gave him an ugly twisting feeling in his gut. Not jealousy, just… an irritation at the lack of justice this man was facing as he continued to evade the police. 

Mick entered the lair one evening when Len had dozed off to the sound of the scanner still set to Star City’s police; he clapped a hand on his partner’s shoulder to wake him up, then flicked the dial so it moved back to reports from Central.

“Time to let go, buddy.” He said gruffly, before a report of a hostage situation downtown had them suiting up.

Summer passed and melted into a harsh Autumn. Leonard was promoted to junior Vice President and had to move up a few floors (he wasn’t too upset about this; it meant he didn’t have to watch the series of temps parading in and out of Sara’s office with none of them sticking for long). 

“Mr Snart?” His intercom crackled as Kendra’s voice filtered through.

He barely took his eyes away from his computer screen as he reached for the button. “Yes?”

“Miss Smoak would like to see you.” His secretary recited.

“Thanks, Kendra, I’ll head across now.” He flicked the intercom off again, smiling at Kendra in the flesh as he walked past her desk which was situated outside his office. Felicity’s office was directly opposite him and he waved at Diggle, her PA, as he went inside.

“You wanted to see me, Miss Smoak?” He asked as he shut the door behind him.

Felicity was leaning against her desk, chatting animatedly to a tall man who turned at the sound of Leonard’s voice; he was wearing a dark suit with a deep green tie resting against the most expensive looking shirt Leonard had ever seen. He was laughing as Felicity babbled on, obviously charmed. Beside him a petite blonde was sat with her back to the entrance, typing furiously on a tablet, obviously keeping tabs on the conversation and noting it down. 

“Leonard!” Felicity smiled brightly at him, before addressing her guest. “Oliver, this is Leonard Snart, my newly appointed Junior Vice President. If I’m unavailable at any time, please get in touch with him, he’s a miracle worker.” Oliver held his hand out and Leonard took it. The man’s face was smiling, but his grip was a little on the intimidating side. “Leonard, this is Oliver Queen. We’re working out an arrangement between Queen Consolidated and Smoak Industries, which I’m hoping you will be a large part of.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Oliver smiled, although it didn’t quite meet his eyes. Leonard released his hand, not sure of the vibe he got from this guy; he had a unsettling feeling that Oliver Queen wasn’t exactly what he seemed to be.

The blonde beside him set her tablet down on Felicity’s desk and stood, straightening her skirt. Felicity smiled warmly at her as she turned to face Leonard. 

“And of course you remember his assistant – I’m still a bit annoyed you stole her from me actually –“

“Sara.” Leonard practically whispered.

“Hello, Leonard.” Sara Lance smiled and held out her hand to him. “It’s so nice to see you again.”


End file.
